Ready to meet the mysterious new Guardian? BTW, I'm making Jack Frost and my OC the same physical age, 16. I know that Jack Frost is 14 on some references and 17-18 in other references, but in my world, he's 16. deal with it. I don't own RoTG (no duh, again).
I'm going to put this out right now: Ireland is awesome. I'm serious; Ireland is full of old magic and there is a much greater chance of getting spotted in Ireland than pretty much any other place on Earth. It's also great for spirits that are mischievous. Which is why I was flying over Ireland making the wind do my bidding. A few scattered papers here, a few flyaway hats there, and no one really seemed to care. Did I mention I love Ireland?
I touched down in a field and sighed. I felt the tug of home calling to me, or maybe it was the wind itself.
Come on Acionna, let's go back to Burgess.
"For the last time, you are Acionna. I'm Misty Fog," I said, exasperated. For anyone else, talking to a weird voice that only you could hear would be bad. For me, it wasn't. You see that was the wind, or at least the wind that I could control.
You are Acionna, Misty. You're me, Acionna said. I gave up trying to argue with her long ago. Acionna was an obscure Gallo-Roman goddess who basically had zero believers and she wanted to pass on her powers to someone who could use them. So, Acionna went to Mother Nature and, after a lot of help from MiM, created me. Acionna was then turned into part of the wind and she became my companion. I think a similar thing happened to Old Man Winter. It's really complicated and it makes my head hurt to think about it.
I took my silver flute and blew a note. A small rain cloud puffed out and started to float off. My powers were not limited to the average water goddess. In fact, I was a water goddess only in name. Summer spirit might be more accurate. I had powers over water, wind, clouds, and a couple of more bizarre ones.
"Alright. Wind, take me home!" I shouted. I shot up into the clouds and I started my work. I took my flute and pushed the top and the bottom together. The flute shortened until I no longer had a flute in my hands, but a paintbrush. I ran my paintbrush over the sky and I started to paint clouds.
What? You thought it was all about evaporation and condensation of water? Well, it is that, but my clouds are different. Ever look up at the clouds and see flying pigs or alligators in tutus? That's me. If I find a good patch of clouds, I simply give a nudge here and tuck there and voila! A castle in the sky.
I flew over Burgess and I promptly turned my paintbrush back into a flute. I blew a high, light note and a thin mist covered the city. That done, I flew back up and started my masterpiece. Early morning fog is like a cover up for a painting: You want to keep your work a secret. Not like the adults would actually notice them. I did it for the kids. They liked my work.
"Hey, wait up!" I heard a voice shout. I looked down and saw a little girl that looked about eight. She had short, light brown hair and brown eyes. She held a book in her hands. I flew down and looked at the book. The cover said Mythological Spirits. I wondered if my name was in there.
"Come on Caroline. Pick up the pace!" another young girl said to Caroline. She had dark hair and dark brown eyes. "You've always got your nose stuck in that book. You know that elves aren't real."
"Oh they're real," I said, seeing if the girls would notice me. It didn't work, so I continued. "Both the Santa kind and the Lord of the Rings kind. I really should visit Lady Galadriel sometime soon."
"Oh, come on Jane," Caroline said. "They're real. Who else goofs off in Santa's workshop?"
"You still believe what your cousin Jamie said? You really believe that yetis make toys and that Jack Frost is real?" Jane said to Caroline. I rolled my eyes.
"Oh, he's real. Real annoying, real sarcastic, and a real pain in the butt," I said to the girls, but more to myself.
"Caroline, be careful out there. It's misty foggy out," a woman shouted. I'm guessing that was her mother.
"How many times do I have to say it? It's Misty Fog. Without the –gy thank you very much," I said to open air. I flew after the girls and they ended up at the park. There, they met up with two other boys and another girl who looked like they were making a snow monster, I think.
I'm guessing you're curious about the fact that I'm a summer spirit and I'm in Pennsylvania three days before Christmas. Just for the record, summer spirits won't freeze in Canada and winter spirits won't melt in Mexico. I actually really like Moscow in January. It's really pretty.
"Hey James, Ian, Sarah, what'cha making? Bigfoot?" Caroline asked. A big, burly boy with messy black hair turned to Caroline and sighed.
"It's supposed to be a snowman, but it kinda collapsed," the boy said.
"Don't worry Ian," Caroline said. "We can always restart."
"It wouldn't have fallen over if James over here didn't stick the scarf on first," a girl with long, blond hair and blue eyes said to a boy with blond hair and blue eyes.
"Well, if Sarah here had built a better base, it wouldn't have fallen over in the first place," James retorted. I laughed. Twins. Definitely twins.
Caroline looked around. "Why is it so foggy?" she asked. I looked around at the growing mist.
"Oops," I said. I called the wind around me and the fog was blown away. The kids looked up to clouds in the sky. They started laughing.
"Look! A wolf with sheep's horns," Jane said.
"There's a crocodile head," Ian said, pointing to a mass of clouds.
"A bike chasing a scooter," Sarah said.
"No, a scooter getting chase by a bike," James said. The twins glared at each other and then burst out laughing.
"I see a bunny rabbit!" Caroline said. "I wish I knew how to make a snow bunny," she sighed. I smiled big.
"You want to learn how to make a snow bunny? Coming right up." I waved my hand around and a raindrop floated above my hand. I dropped it on Caroline's head and her eyes lit up. That's one of my favorite powers. I've seen a lot over the years, and Acionna is always telling me things. When I found out that I could give ideas through raindrops, I put it to good use. I usually used it on kids, but I occasionally would use it on an adult, mostly authors. I had a good time giving a U.K author the idea of witches and wizards going to school. She pounced on the idea and made millions off of it.
Caroline quickly made a large snow clump on the ground and then made five good-sized snowballs for the feet and cottontail. She made a large ball for the head and placed stones in for eyes and the nose. Caroline then took some really wet snow and made two floppy ears. Her friends came running over.
"Awesome bunny Caroline," Ian said.
"I want to make one!" Jane exclaimed. The five kids set to work making snow creatures. Ian set to work making an alligator and Sarah and James tried to make Bigfoot. I occasionally dropped a raindrop or two to inspire the kids. When they finished, there were snow flowers and snow people next to snow dinosaurs.
"That was awesome!" Sarah exclaimed.
"Definitely," James agreed. Caroline, Ian, and Jane stared at the twins.
"Did you two just agree on something?" Ian asked. Sarah and James looked at each other in shock.
"AHHHH!" they both shouted. I couldn't help but laugh at that, and neither could the kids. Caroline rolled around in the snow gasping for breath.
"Come on guys, let's go back to my place for hot chocolate," Jane said. The kids all got up and followed Jane. I flew down over them.
"Really? Time to go already?" I sighed. The kids never stayed long. I sometimes wondered why I even tried to make them see me. I sat down on a tree limb as the sun went down. I felt Acionna flying around me in concern.
Misty, someday, you will be seen. I know it, Acionna spoke.
"How do you know that?" I asked. "It's been three hundred years and not one kid has ever seen me."
You forget that I've seen a lot. Being believed in is nice, but just remember that you're not ever alone. I'm right here and I'll always be right here, Acionna said to me. I looked up at the sky at the Sandman's golden dreamsand. A stream passed next to my tree and I ran my hand through it. A stingray started to fly around me and a ghost of a smile appeared on my face.
A cold gust of wind whipped around me and I glanced around. A shadow on my left slowly crept towards me. I smiled and made a small orb of water in my hand. The figure got closer and I slowly shifted positions.
"HA!" the shadow shouted as a snowball came flying for my face. I quickly dodged it and threw the water orb. It hit the shadow in what I thought was its face. I dropped down from the trees with a smile on my face.
"That's Misty Fog at 265 and Jack Frost at 264," I said with a laugh. A teenage boy that looked maybe 16 floated out. His white hair sparkled in the moonlight and he carried a staff in his hand.
"You got lucky Raindrop," Jack said.
"I'm not lucky Snowflake. I've just got good aim," I said while inspecting my nails. Jack laughed and flew over to me.
"So are you my twin today or are you my queen?" he teasingly asked. I rolled my eyes. Half of the spirits on this planet called us the Trickster Twins because we looked and acted very similar and we were created around the same time. The other half called us the Trickster King and Queen because they thought we made the perfect couple. It drove us both crazy.
"How about just friends?" I asked. We shared a smile and then we both took off. We flew up over Burgess and landed on top of a building.
"How are you doing Misty?" Jack asked me, his voice oddly concerned. My hand instinctively went to my amulet and I forced a smile onto my face.
"Oh, I'm fine," I said casually. "By the way, congratulations on becoming a Guardian," I said, trying to change the subject. Jack glanced at me and I could tell he was forcing a smile.
"You heard about that?" Jack asked. I rolled my eyes.
"What spirit hasn't heard about it is a better question," I said. Jack smiled and that was the end of that discussion.
"So, where do you want to go for Christmas?" Jack asked me. I twirled my flute in my hand, running over options.
"Let's see…London, Paris, Chicago, New York is always good, Tokyo," I said, rattling off a couple of cities. "But I think it's your year to decide."
"It is?" he said, his voice light and humorous. "Oh right, it is. I was hoping you would like to go somewhere a little more…exotic this year."
I shrugged my shoulders. "As long as it's not anywhere in the Middle East, Central Africa, or Siberia," I said.
"Don't worry, it's not any of those places," Jack said with a laugh. I turned my head to Jack and I saw his eyes twinkling. I immediately shot up, but I wasn't quite fast enough. Jack hooked me around the waist with his staff and started spinning me around. I could vaguely make out Jack smashing a snow globe. A portal appeared and he flung me through it. I went flying through the portal and landed on a hard wooden floor rolling head over heels. I looked up and saw Jack flying through as well. He landed next to me with a smirk on his face.
"I was thinking of the North Pole."
So now we know her name! I made Caroline Jamie's cousin because I thought it fit. I've always thought that seasonal spirits should be able to go anywhere on Earth even if it isn't their season. My evidence for this: Jack managed to go to Tooth palace, which is supposed to be in southeast Asia, and he was just fine. Stay tuned for the next chapter.